This invention relates to the field of storing and transporting human teeth which have been extracted, avulsed, or exfoliated.
It has been proposed to harvest stem cells from human teeth, or from tissues surrounding human teeth, for later use in repair or regeneration of various tissues of the body. This concept is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,767,740, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. The stem cells may be obtained from residual dental pulp found on the tooth. The tooth may be a deciduous tooth that is naturally exfoliated, or a tooth that has been extracted during a dental procedure. The tooth could also be one which has been avulsed, such as in an accident or fight.
The prior art includes devices for storing an exarticulated tooth, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,689,014 and 4,802,853, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein. The above-cited patents provide an apparatus for suspending a tooth in a net, within a solution especially designed for preserving dental tissues. Storing the tooth in this way improves the likelihood of successful reimplantation.
The present invention provides a method and apparatus which facilitates the storage and transportation-of one or more human teeth, in a manner such that stem cells, or other tissues, can be recovered from the teeth, and used for various purposes.